Though recorded in 1969, Grimwood wasn't issued until 1974, and then only as a private pressing. Like other Yonkers albums to emerge in scarce quantities in the mid-'70s, it's a far folkier and more subdued affair than the late-'60s psychedelic one for which he's most known, Microminiature Love. If perhaps not as impressive or consistent as the somewhat similar material he recorded in the early '70s for the LP Goodby Sunball, Grimwood is likewise an interesting entry into what has been dubbed by some collectors as the "loner folk" genre. Yonkers singing is melancholic, but not quite downbeat; the tunes have sparse but imaginative, rather oddball arrangements. Damsel Fair and Your Angel sounds kind of like a lo-fi Leonard Cohen, in the good sense of that description, but other songs have a more hymn-like or even slightly British folk feel. A forlorn yet fairly warm tone hovers over most of these low-key ruminations, and while Yonkers' measured voice and acoustic guitar are constants, the settings are graced by touches that can only be described as willfully eccentric. Damsel Fair and Your Angel has odd blips of moaning background vocals and what sound like dabs of a recorder; Sand Castle has a sea shanty accordion; a low buzz drones throughout Lonely Fog like a distorted dying foghorn that's starting to sound more like a distant burglar alarm; and The Day Is Through blends goofy scat vocals with an asthmatic bleating horn. That's just side one of the original LP; side two lays on some more off-the-wall toppings, like the gentle wah-wah of Tripping Through the Rose Gardens that seems to be mimicking Native American chants, and the howling wind somewhere in the background of The Big Parade. The lo-fi (though not nearly to the point of being tough to listen to) quality, along with the generally casual-to-the-verge-of-ragged performances, will be off-putting to a good number of mainstream listeners. For those looking for obscure acid-folk-tinged music of the period with a slight "outsider" vibe, however, this is a standout. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi

1		Damsel Fair and Your Angel
2		Grimwood
3		Sandcastle
4		Lonely Fog
5		The Day Is Through
6		162
7		And Give It to You
8		Tripping Through the Rose Gardens
9		The Answer
10		Sunflower
11		The Big Parade
12		The Thing Called Love

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